If I Die Young
by sagarmatha98
Summary: My name is Cato. I won the 74th Hunger Games. There is blood on my hands.
1. Chapter 1

An Alternate Ending to The Hunger Games

Chapter 1

Katniss's POV

The mutts are clawing at the Cornucopia. The wailing and screeching sounds coming from their mouths drive into my ear. I am crouched, panting on the Cornucopia's metallic surface. My vision is fuzzy and unstable as I look down at the shrieking mass of fur and teeth. Foxface's red hair, Rue's dark eyes. They glint in the moonlight. Suddenly, a rough hand seizes me around the middle, and I am face to face to face with Cato. He gives me a monstrous grin.

"Looks like Lover Boy isn't here to save you, is he, Fire Girl," he snarls. Peeta is trying to climb the Cornucopia, but the mutts are tugging at his feet, converging on him. Guilt washes over me for only thinking of myself and forgetting Peeta.

Cato shoves me down onto the Cornucopia. I look around frantically, but my bow is out of reach and I have no arrows.

Cato produces a short jagged knife that glints in his hand. "I'm going to kill you now, and then I'll be victor." He kneels down, pinning me to the ground. I can feel his hot breath on my face. Peeta's cries come to me, as the mutts work on him.

"This," he says raggedly, "is for Glimmer." The knife comes down and slices my cheek in one swift movement. The pain is instantaneous and blinding, flashes of light crossing my vision. Cato's face goes in and out of focus. A strangled sound works its way out of my mouth. Cato smiles with pleasure.

"And this. This is for Marvel." The knife slashes my other cheek. Blood and tears are stinging my eyes, and I am nothing but pain. That is all I know. There is no hope for me. For Peeta. I do not struggle. I am waiting for the end.

Cato cuts my face one last time, across my forehead. "Clove," he whispers. "For Clove."

I am swimming in a hot thick sea of blood. It fills my eyes, ears, nose. I sink, pulled under the red waves. Heavy. I am so heavy. I can only think of the freedom that awaits me. Soon. Peeta will be free too. I wonder if I would have come to truly love the boy with the bread, had I known him longer.

Through everything, I can see Cato's face above me. His knife is raised high in the air, ready to plunge into my heart and finish the job. As Cato brings his hand down I can only think of how, in a place called District 12, my mother and sister are watching my death unfold on a screen before them. How much I want to protect them from my pain. The last image that flits across my vision is Prim's untucked shirt, forming a ducktail. Then everything goes dark, like someone covered my eyes. Somewhere, a cannon fires.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Cato's POV

The mutts are gone. All of my anger and hatred is gone, leaving me drained. I feel so tired. I turn my face to the sky, waiting for the trumpets to announce my victory. In answer, a slight wind carries up a moan from the ground. _Lover Boy?_

I limp to the edge of the Cornucopia, and sure enough Peeta Mellark, missing limbs and covered in blood, is writhing in the grass. Why didn't the mutts finish him off? He keeps groaning, and I realize that he's saying _Katniss, Katniss_. Who's that? Then I realize, it's Fire Girl. So that's her name.

"She's dead, Lover Boy," I call. "I killed her." This brings on a long tortured moan and another, louder, round of _Katniss, Katniss_.

I slide off the Cornucopia and tower over the last thing standing between me and victory. Peeta lifts the one arm still attached to his body and shields his face, as if to protect himself. I kick it down and step on his hand, leaning heavily on my boot and enjoying the sound of crunching bones. Peeta cries, faintly, but there is no one to hear him. No one to come to his aid. I crouch over his face and breath, "Katniss is dead. You will never see her again. _She's gone_." Peeta's expression are twisted in agony.

"I…I love…her," he gasps so quietly I wouldn't have heard if I wasn't two inches from his face.

"Too bad," I say loudly, then stand up and kick him in the stomach. Hard. Lover Boy makes a small noise in the back of his throat. I walk a few paces away from his disfigured body, turn, and throw my knife with all my remaining strength. It lodges in Peeta's chest, the cannon fires, and both his and Katniss's bloodied bodies are carried away by hovercrafts.

Where are the trumpets?

A breeze ruffles the red stained grass.


End file.
